But perhaps my discomfort with discussing my work with my new colleagues is less about self-deprecation and more about my acculturated womanhood. My male friends here have zero problem bragging about having had drinks with Vanessa Redgrave, or doing gap years in the Middle East with NGOs. These things that would be my dream fall from their lips with a smile, as though they are as commonplace as saying what you talked about in seminar that day.